Liz Benjamin

Posts by Liz Benjamin

It is dangerously cold out there, all overthe state. Travel bans are in place in some areas, check your local listings for more information.

Also, take precautions, avoiding unnecessary prolonged exposure outdoors. If you must be outside, dress in layers and don’t stay out too long if you can help it.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is, according to his press office, in Albany, with no public events or interviews yet scheduled.

NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio is in NYC with no public events or appearances scheduled.

Vice President Mike Pence this morning participates in a briefing at the Drug Enforcement Administration, and then delivers remarks to DEA employees.

In the afternoon, Pence participates in a swearing in ceremony for Director of the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy James W. Carroll.

At 8:30 a.m., ABNY hosts a Power Breakfast about the 2020 census, which includes Quinnipiac poll results on the census and a discussion with state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assemblyman Marcos Crespo, New York Public Library, Stephen A Schwarzman Building, 476 Fifth Ave., Manhattan.

At 9:30 a.m., Assemblyman Harvey Epstein and local elected officials call on the Boy Scouts of America to recognize the Eagle Scout work of young women prior to their admission in the Boy Scouts, in front of Fearless Girl statue, 11 Wall St., Manhattan.

At 11 a.m., Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and state Sens. Michael Gianaris and Jamaal Bailey convene to develop a moral-based approach to drive an end cash bail as well as enact speedy trial, discovery and parole reform, St. Paul’s Chapel, 209 Broadway, Manhattan.

Also at 11 a.m., Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and state Sens. Michael Gianaris and Jamaal Bailey convene to develop a moral-based approach to drive an end cash bail as well as enact speedy trial, discovery and parole reform, St. Paul’s Chapel, 209 Broadway, Manhattan.

Also at 11 a.m., state Sen. James Skoufis will hold a press conference on the newly passed Child Victims Act with local public officials and child victims advocate, Gary Greenberg, Village Hall, 325 Hudson St., Cornwall-on-Hudson.

At 12:05 p.m., NYC First Lady Chirlane McCray will appear live on WNYC’s “All of It with Alison Stewart” to discuss the ‘She Persists: A Century of Women Artists in New York’ art exhibit.

Later today, McCray will deliver remarks at the fifth annual Alternative Dispute Resolution and Diversity symposium – an event that is closed to members of the media.

At 1 p.m., the NYC Council Committee on Governmental Operations meets, Council Chambers, City Hall, Manhattan.

At 3:30 p.m., NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson and Councilman Paul Vallone host a roundtable discussion with civic, nonprofit and business leaders from the Korean-American community, Korean Community Services 203-05 32nd Ave., Queens.

At 4 p.m., Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz and NYC Councilman Andrew Cohen are joined by residents of 3804 Greystone Avenue regarding a lack of gas service since September, 3804 Greystone Ave., the Bronx.

At 5 p.m., “Driving Forces,” hosted by Jeff Simmons and Celeste Katz, features coverage of the NYC public advocate’s race with candidate and NYC Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, WBAI 99.5 FM.

At 6 p.m., Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte presents a 2019 State of the District address, College Students Center, 2705 Campus Road, Brooklyn.

Also at 6 p.m., the NYC Council Charter Revision Commission 2019 meets, City Hall, Council Chambers, Manhattan.

At 6:45 p.m., the Community Preservation Coalition and community members hold a town hall meeting to discuss the mayor’s plan to build a 29-story jail in Kew Gardens, Community Center, 80-02 Kew Gardens Road, Queens.

Also at 7 p.m., the Blind Brook Community Foundation and the RyeACT Coalition will host a community forum on the state’s proposal to legalize recreational marijuana, with special guest Dr. Kevin Sabet, former White House drug policy advisor, Blind Brook High School Auditorium, 840 King St., Rye Brook.

Headlines…

In suspending its previous plans to continue raising rates this year, the Federal Reserve signaled that its march toward higher interest rates may be ending sooner than expected.

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called for US intelligence chiefs to “stage an intervention” with President Trump just hours after the president called them “naive” in a tweet.

Trump said that he would not intervene with the Justice Department’s decision-making process about whether to release the report by the special counsel investigating possible collusion with Russian officials in the 2016 campaign.

Queens Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who went from tending bar to the halls of the Capitol, slammed former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz after he dismissed her proposal for a tax on the nation’s wealthiest, asking why billionaire candidates are not told they have to “work their way up.”

Ocasio-Cortez and Massachusetts Sen. Edward Markey are reportedly planning to unveil legislation for a Green New Deal in the coming day.

An undocumented immigrant who worked at one of Trump’s golf clubs in New Jersey for years and recently spoke out about her experience will attend his State of the Union address after being invited by her Democratic congresswoman, the woman’s lawyer and the congresswoman’s office said.

US Sen. Rand Paul was awarded more than $580,000 in damages and medical expenses in his lawsuit against the neighbor who tackled him and broke several of his ribs in a dispute over lawn maintenance.

Nikki Haley, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and South Carolina governor, says she isn’t planning a 2020 run for the White House, but she’s getting a lot of attention, and money, as a rising GOP political star.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has asked the state Department of Education to investigate the claims of four middle school black girls who claim they were strip-searched during school in Binghamton.

Cuomo called the allegations that the school nurse and an assistant principal searched the 12-year-old girls because they had been acting “hyper and giddy” during lunchtime “disturbing.” The incident has sparked outrage and protests in Binghamton.

School officials have refuted those claims, saying that a strip search never took place and that administrators at East Middle School only conducted a routine medical assessment out of concern for the girls’ health and safety.

Three of the four girls complied, while the fourth was suspended when she refused, according to a claim by Progressive Leaders of Tomorrow, which the school district has denied.

AG Letitia James and Cuomo announced an investigation into Apple Inc’s failure to warn consumers about a FaceTime bug that lets iPhones users listen to conversations of others who have not yet accepted a video call.

Cuomo and James noted that reports indicate the problem was raised with Apple more than a week before it was made public and the company took action to disable the affected feature.

A top federal housing official took a swipe at NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio as she announced that Housing Secretary Ben Carson will travel to New York as the deadline looms for a possible takeover of the city’s embattled Housing Authority.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson is expected to make a “huge” and “historic” announcement about the New York City Housing Authority today — the same day the agency faces a court-imposed deadline to reach a plan to address substandard conditions in apartments.

As the dreaded polar vortex swooped down on NYC and thousands of public housing residents endured another day without heat, fed-up tenants began fighting back with tough talk of a rent strike.

De Blasio ripped Montana Gov. Steve Bullock for not telling his administration that a senior staffer, Kevin O’Brien, had been fired for sexual harassment before he was hired by City Hall.

“As a Democrat, it’s very troubling to me,” de Blasio said. “They should have said to us, ‘Yes, there was a problem.’ They should have said, point blank, ‘Yes, there was a problem.’ And that would have caused us not to hire him.”

High school graduation rates in New York state inched up in 2018 and they have risen noticeably over the last several years. But the state has also opened new avenues for students to graduate, even if they don’t take or pass the traditional high school Regents exams.

At 9:30 a.m., the Senate and Assembly hold a joint hearing on the transportation portion of the 2019-2020 executive budget proposal, Hearing Room B, second floor, state Capitol, Albany.

At 9:45 a.m., the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York and 32BJ SEIU as well as the Long Island City Partnership, Urban Upbound and the Queens Chamber of Commerce rally in support of Amazon coming to Queens, City Hall steps, Manhattan.

At 10 a.m., the NYC Council Committee on Finance meets, Council Chambers, City Hall, Manhattan.

Also at 10 a.m., the first medical marijuana dispensary in Oneida County opens, Remedy Dispensary, 4776 Commercial Dr., New Hartford.

Also at 11 a.m., disability and transit advocates address death of a Connecticut mother who fell down the subway stairs while carrying her baby and a stroller and died, calling on Cuomo for better subway accessibility, 7th Avenue and 53rd Street, Manhattan.

At 11:30 a.m. – Suffolk County Executive Steven Bellone announces the creation of the Suffolk County Complete Count Committee to ensure that all county residents are accurately counted in the 2020 census, H. Lee Dennison Building, Media Room, 100 Veterans Memorial Highway, Hauppauge.

At noon, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. is the featured speaker at the New York Building Congress’ luncheon, 1040 Sixth Ave., 21st floor, Manhattan.

At 12:10 p.m., NYC First Lady Chirlane McCray will join Deputy Mayor Dr. Herminia Palacio, the Department for the Aging, the Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence, and the Commissioner on Gender Equity at Neighborhood SHOPP Casa Boricua Senior Center for a roundtable with older adults who are victims of elder abuse to launch Providing Options to Elderly Clients Together, 910 E. 172nd St., the Bronx.

At 1 p.m., the NYC Council Committee on Small Business meets, 250 Broadway, 14th floor, Committee Room, Manhattan.

Also at 1 p.m., NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio and NYC Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza will make an education-related announcement, New World High School, 921 E. 228th St., the Bronx.

Also at 1 p.m., the NYC Council Committee on Health meets, Committee Room, City Hall, Manhattan.

At 6 p.m., Diaz Jr. speaks at the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation’s public meeting on the restoration of the Orchard Beach pavilion, St. Mary’s Recreation Center, 450 St. Ann’s Avenue, the Bronx.

Headlines…

More than two years into his administration, the disconnect between President Trump and the Republican establishment on foreign policy has rarely been as stark.

A new American intelligence assessment of global threats has concluded that North Korea is unlikely to give up its nuclear stockpiles and that Iran is not, for now, taking steps necessary to make a bomb – directly contradicting the rationale of two of Trump’s foreign policy initiatives.

Queens Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez blasted the “broken mentality” of politics after a fellow Democrat suggested she moved into her House seat too fast and the party should mount a primary election challenge against her.

Hillary Clinton’s former campaign manager John Podesta beat back reports that she’s mulling a presidential run in 2020. “I think this is media catnip,” he said. “I take her at her word. She’s not running for president.”

While in New Hampshire, potential 2020 candidate Mike Bloomberg, a former NYC mayor, not only teed off on Trump, but also criticized other candidates – both already announced and still considering, like he is.

Add former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, a onetime Democratic White House candidate, to the list of those opposed — vehemently, and in some instances profanely — to the idea of Howard Schultz, the former Starbucks chief executive, entering the 2020 presidential race as an independent.

The Trump Organization said it will implement a system to weed out undocumented immigrants who try to get jobs at its properties. The move followed reports in The New York Times last month that the president’s company was employing people at its flagship golf club in New Jersey who are in the country illegally.

The FaceTime flaw, dubbed FacePalm, was inadvertently discovered by a 14-year-old in Arizona and reported by his mother. Apple didn’t react until an article about it on a fan site went viral.

A growing number of big-city prosecutors across the nation are moving away from marijuana cases, declaring them largely off limits and in some cases going so far as to clear old warrants or convictions off the books.

With the parents of a teacher gunned down in the 2018 Parkland, Fla., school shooting looking on, the state Legislature passed a package of gun control bills aimed at preventing the kind of shooting massacres that have marred the US.

Democrats who now control both houses of the Legislature said the five-bill gun control package is needed as a response to mass shootings and other gun violence, while Republicans lashed out at the measures as political acts designed to undermine Second Amendment rights.

It was the first major batch of gun-control measures in New York since the SAFE Act of 2013, and the governor and lawmakers pledged they won’t wait another six years before revisiting state firearm laws.

In total, six gun bills passed easily through the State Senate and Assembly, a remarkable sight in a Capitol that for years had resisted almost all new legislation on the subject.

“There has to be a way to allow people who can have guns and should have guns to enjoy their gun, but not have this senseless violence, where people who are mentally ill, people who are past felons have guns,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins is presiding over what some observers are calling the most productive Senate session on record, as her 39-member Democratic conference rapidly rolls through legislation that had stalled for years when Republicans controlled the chamber.

Catholics are a key voting bloc in New York, accounting for 35 percent of all voters, more than any other religious group. But that doesn’t mean Cuomo will take a political hit for taking on the Church over legislation expanding abortion protections and extending the statute of limitations on child sex abuse cases.

After hearing a resident address speak in opposition to the Reproductive Health Act, a bill signed into law last week by Cuomo, the Batavia City Council decided to do the same, in a letter to the governor.

The shocking death of the young Connecticut mom in a Midtown subway station tumble — a tragedy whose cause remained unclear — is under investigation, and has intensified calls for more elevators throughout a system with an alarming deficiency.

The former top aide to de Blasio sacked for allegedly sexually harassing two staffers was allowed to remain on the city payroll for five weeks after being fired — and then collected nearly $6,500 for leftover vacation time.

Roger Stone, a longtime adviser and confidant of Trump, pleaded not guilty to charges in the Russia investigation after a publicity-filled few days spent torching the probe as politically motivated.

A border security compromise that Congress hopes to produce doesn’t have to include the word “wall,” the top House Republican, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, of California, said today, signaling a rhetorical retreat from a term that Trump made a keystone of his presidential campaign.

Stacey Abrams, who narrowly lost Georgia’s recent gubernatorial election, will deliver the Democrats’ response to Trump’s State of the Union address next week, the top Democrat in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, said.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is pushing an amendment to a Middle East policy bill that would acknowledge “al Qaeda, ISIS and their affiliates in Syria and Afghanistan continue to pose a serious threat to us here at home,” a move seen as a sharp rebuke to Trump’s push to withdraw US troops from Syria.

Queens Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has infuriated colleagues by aligning with a progressive outside group that’s threatening to primary entrenched Democrats. Now some of those lawmakers are turning the tables on her and are discussing recruiting a primary challenger to run against the social media sensation.

George Conway, husband of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway and a frequent Trump critic, blasted his husband’s boss yet again, saying his “stupidity knows no bounds” after Trump ripped into former aide Cliff Sims for his tell-all book.

Acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan would not rule out sending U.S. military forces to Colombia or the region in connection with the ongoing political upheaval in Venezuela.

Timothy Cardinal Dolan: “As an American historian, I am very aware of our state’s past record of scorn and sneers at Catholics. It used to be called ‘know-nothings.’ Now it’s touted as ‘progressivism.'”

Harley-Davidson Inc. barely broke even in the last quarter of a year in which the struggling American icon got caught up in Trump’s trade wars. The motorcycle maker’s shares plunged the most in a year.

The National Transportation Safety Board will get access to the limousine involved in the Oct. 6 crash that killed 20 people, but it could take some time before the federal agency releases its findings about what caused the incident.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s presidential campaign said that she will make her first campaign trip to New Hampshire – the first primary state – this coming weekend. (She’s no stranger to the state, and is a graduate of Dartmouth).

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg made his second visit to New Hampshire, stepping up his criticisms of Trump as part of a potential 2020 presidential run.

Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick is calling on the Town of Manlius Police Department to reopen a case against “Saturday Night Liv” star Pete Davidson.

Many federal workers in the North Country say they suffered because of the standoff between Trump and Democrats in Congress. But some labor leaders are giving Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik high marks for how she handled the situation.

Disgraced former union chief Norman Seabrook said he shouldn’t have to pay back the $20 million that he plowed into a troubled hedge fund in exchange for a $60,000 bribe because he didn’t know it was a bad investment.

Mina Malik, the former head of the Civilian Complaint Review Board, has officially announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination for Queens District Attorney.

When Amazon announced it would build its second headquarters in Long Island City, activists immediately spoke out against the deal. Now, the New York City Teamsters union has joined an effort to oppose Amazon HQ2 in Queens.

The company that made New York’s first “cocktail in a can” – Disco Lemonade – has been sold.

PG&E Corp, owner of the largest U.S. power utility, filed for bankruptcy protection in anticipation of liabilities in excess of $30 billion from the deadliest wildfires in California’s history.

Also at 10 a.m., the NYC Council Committee on Housing and Buildings meets, Council Chambers, City Hall, Manhattan.

At 11 a.m., the State Senate is in session, Senate chamber, state Capitol, Albany.

At 11:30 a.m., leading members of the Fix Our Transit coalition, representing New York’s top business, labor, environmental, transportation, and civic organizations, demand lawmakers pass congestion pricing in this budget session, outside the LCA, 3rd Fl., state Capitol, Albany.

At noon, NYC Councilman Antonio Reynoso joins Teamsters Local 813 and advocacy organizations for a rally to draw attention to the prevalence of sham unions and worker exploitation in the private carting industry, City Hall steps, Manhattan.

At 6 p.m., the Educational Alliance hosts a forum featuring candidates for New York City public advocate in advance of the special election, Educational Alliance Manny Cantor Center, 197 E. Broadway, sixth floor, Manhattan.

Also at 6 p.m., City & State and AARP present the 50 Over Fifty 2019: The Age Disruptors awards, honoring 50 of the most distinguished public servants in New York, Sony Hall, 235 W. 46th St., Manhattan.

At 6:30 p.m., NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio and schools Chancellor Richard Carranza meet with parents in School District 11 at a community forum, Richard R. Green Middle School, 3710 Barnes Ave., Bronx.

Headlines…

New York will become the 10th state to give victims of childhood sexual abuse a new chance to sue their abusers—and the institutions that employed them—regardless of when their abuse occurred.

Democratic lawmakers who control the state Assembly and Senate passed the Child Victims Act, capping 15 years of lobbying by victims and their advocates. Republicans, who controlled the Senate until the last election, had blocked similar bills from floor votes but unanimously supported the latest measure.

The measure would give survivors until their 55th birthday to sue their abusers (compared to their 23rd birthday before). It would also open a one-year window during which victims could sue if they had missed out on the previous statute of limitations.

With survivors in the gallery for the vote, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins expressed disappointment that they had to spend years advocating for passage of the bill. “We’re sorry for making you wait so long,” she said.

In an extraordinary turnabout, every Republican member of the state Senate — whose leaders had for years blocked the legislation from being voted on in their chamber — threw their support to the bill, which passed unanimously.

As child sex abuse survivors watched the state Legislature pass the Child Victims Act, there were more survivors present: A handful of New York lawmakers, some of whom revealed for the first time to their colleagues that they were sexually abused as children.

The Catholic Church, which lobbied hard for years against the act, raised concerns that just private groups – like churches and Boy Scouts – would be covered by the one-year look-back lawsuit period. Lawmakers changed the bill’s language last week to provide that certainty.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who included a version of the Child Victims Act in his budget proposal and met with survivors before the vote, vowed to sign the bill. “It’s taken us a number of years to get here, but we got here,” he said.

The holy war between Cuomo and state Catholic leaders like Timothy Cardinal Dolan continued over the issue of abortion and the Child Victims Act. Cuomo, who is facing calls for his excommunication, recalled his father experienced a similar situation over his abortion rights stance.

Cuomo delivered a fiery sermon against Catholic bishops, saying: “Jesus Christ teaches about truth and justice — social justice — and that’s not what the church did here,” in reference to the church’s resistance to the Child Victims Act. “They compounded the problem by covering it up and not taking responsibility.”

A new survey shows a majority of New York doctors support medical aid in dying — a practice also known as physician-assisted suicide — in which a doctor prescribes a lethal dose of medication to a terminally ill, mentally competent patient who requests it. The Church opposes the bill.

Matthew Whitaker, the acting attorney general, announced that the special counsel, Robert Mueller, is wrapping up his investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign and whether the Trump campaign cooperated with Moscow’s operation.

President Trump accepted an invitation from Nancy Pelosi on to deliver his State of the Union address before the full House next week, ending days of bitter political bickering.

Trump this week will turn his attention from a fight with congressional Democrats to an even more formidable negotiating challenge, one with potentially higher stakes: China.

A federal judge in Virginia delayed Paul Manafort’s sentencing on his financial crime convictions until a dispute about his cooperation with Special Counsel Robert Mueller is resolved.

Michael Cohen, the prison-bound former fixer to Trump, will testify behind closed doors before at least two congressional committees next month — and he has hired new lawyers to represent him, a spokesman said.

The commander-in-chief ditched the former House speaker in the middle of an Oval Office meeting to go watch television in another room, according to ex-White House staffer Cliff Sims, who has penned a new book.

State Conservative Party Chairman Michael Long is stepping down from his post after three decades at the helm of the party, he announced

NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio rolled out a road map to eliminate childhood lead exposure during the next 10 years – particularly in private homes.

De Blasio sought to distract from NYCHA’s lead woes as he blamed private housing for poisoning Big Apple kids and announced a plan to “eliminate childhood lead exposure” by 2029.

Kevin O’Brien, the de Blasio aide who was fired due to sexual harassment complaints from two women, was fired from his previous job with the Democratic Governors Association for similar reasons less than a month before joining the NYC administration.

City Hall spokesman Eric Phillips said that the mayor was not aware of the previous complaints against O’Brien. He added that the Department of Investigation conducted a background check on O’Brien before he was hired and “received confirmation of title and work dates and no adverse information.”

Trump said he’s not sure what he did to draw the ire of conservative commentator Ann Coulter, who called him a “wimp” after he signed a bill that would reopen the government but does not include funding for his border wall.

Trump panned former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz’s appearance on “60 Minutes” where he revealed he’s “seriously thinking” of running for president and said he doesn’t have the “guts” for a White House bid.

NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson announced that he’s considering running for mayor in 2021 — and has begun accepting contributions.

Johnson and another leading 2021 mayoral contender, NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer, will soon begin hosting fund-raising house parties, seeking to plant a stake in what is certain to be a prolonged race for City Hall.

Former NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg, a billionaire who is mulling a 2020 run as a Democrat, warned in the wake of former Starbuck’s CEO Howard Schultz’s announcement over the weekend that there “is no way an independent” presidential candidate “can win” and that such a bid would only ensure the re-election of Trump.

New York Conservative Party Chair Mike Long, the longest serving state party chair at the moment, announced he’ll retire in February after 30 years in the post.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have been routinely visiting courthouses throughout New York state for the past two years to ramp up enforcement actions against immigrants, and court officers have been helping with arrests.

The Buffalo Diocese so far has offered more than $8 million to nearly four dozen people sexually abused as children by priests, according to victims and lawyers who represent them.

Holy Islamberg, a Muslim refuge deep in the Catskills, was the target of a foiled attack, and the community has found that there’s no such thing as a safe haven in the age of the internet.

Before House Speaker Nancy Pelosi undercut Trump’s self-professed deal-making skills, New York’s own Richard Ravitch put a wrench in The Donald’s real estate development plans way back in the 1970s.

The newly-seated Democratic majority in the state Senate does not seem inclined to take any formal action against one of its members, Sen. Kevin Parker of Brooklyn, for an inappropriate Twitter outburst last month, directed at a Republican Senate staffer, or his apparent misuse of his official parking placard.

Vanessa Glushefski, the City of Buffalo’s acting comptroller, is formally seeking the appointment as interim comptroller.

The state Gaming Commission took an important step today toward allowing sports betting at commercial casinos in New York

The House Democrats’ campaign arm unveiled its initial list of Republican targets as Democrats work to protect their House majority in 2020 – and it includes indicted Rep. Chris Collins, of Western New York; as well as Central New York Rep. John Katko, as well as Long Island Reps. Pete King and Lee Zeldin.

Eleven of the 20 remaining candidates in the special election for New York City Public Advocate appear to have qualified for the first of two televised debates in the race, scheduled for Feb. 6.

A housekeeper who works at a billionaire’s Upper East Side townhouse got trapped in its elevator Friday — and spent the whole weekend in the lift before she was rescued, authorities said.

New York taxpayers are seeing a shrinking return on their federal tax dollars as the Empire State receives back only 86 cents for every dollar sent to the federal government, according to a new analysis by the Rockefeller Institute.

Queens Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was the rock star of the Sundance Film Festival this past weekend — and she didn’t even show up in person, sending a video instead.

Cuomo initially – and assumedly, jokingly – pretended his line went dead during a radio interview when asked about supporting a possible presidential run by NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Recycling is not going away, but because of a shift in the worldwide market, the system is undergoing changes that will dictate everything from what we can recycle to how often we can do it to how much it will cost. And this time, we’re not going to get decades to adjust.

Pete Davidson accuses Syracuse cops of “hunting me down” when he was filming in the city, and swears to “never again” repeat the experience.

Another busy week kicks off in Albany today with the expected passage of the Child Victims Act – a bill that, like many others passed so far this session, was long held up in the Senate by the former GOP majority.

President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have lunch together at the White House.

NYC First Lady Chirlane McCray will visit a Mental Health First Aid Training in the Bronx – a closed press event.

At 9 a.m., Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer speaks at a press conference in support of activist Ravi Ragbir, 26 Federal Plaza, Manhattan.

At 9:30 a.m., NYC Councilman Rafael Espinal Jr. hosts a press conference in support of his bill that would mandate certain new buildings cover all available rooftop space with a green roof, solar panels and/or small wind turbines, City Hall steps, Manhattan.

Also at 11 a.m., NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio will make an announcement regarding New York City’s lead prevention, NYC Health + Hospitals/North Central Bronx, Community Room, 17th Fl., 3424 Kossuth Ave., the Bronx.

At 12:45 p.m., the Assembly Republicans release a report on New York’s infrastructure, summarizing feedback received at the eight regional forums, back of state Assembly chamber, 3rd Fl., state Capitol, Albany.

At 1 p.m., the NYC Council Committee on Immigration meets, Committee Room, City Hall, Manhattan.

Also at 1 p.m., state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli speaks at the New York State Association of Counties’ annual legislative conference, Desmond Hotel, 660 Albany Shaker Road, Albany.

At 3 p.m., he state Senate is in session, Senate chamber, state Capitol, Albany.

At 6 p.m., McCray will join author Nana-Ama Danquah for the Gracie Mansion Book Club to discuss her book “Willow Weep for Me: A Black Woman’s Journey Through Depression” at Barnard College, 3009 Broadway, Manhattan.

With the government shutdown over for now, the 116th Congress will hit reset this week, showcasing a Democratic agenda in the House that was overshadowed by the struggle to reopen the government and furnishing both chambers with early opportunities to test whether divided government can produce results.

President Donald Trump said he doesn’t believe congressional negotiators will strike a deal over border-wall funding that he could accept and vowed that he would build a wall anyway, using emergency powers if need be.

Trump said that the odds congressional negotiators will craft a deal to end his border wall standoff with Congress are “less than 50-50.”

The spending bill Trump signed funds the previously shuttered government agencies only until Feb. 15. It’s unclear if the Democrats will budge, and the president seems girded for battle, sending out a series of online messages that foreshadowed the upcoming fight with lawmakers. “BUILD A WALL & CRIME WILL FALL!” he tweeted.

Roger Stone, a longtime adviser to Trump, said he’s “prepared to fight for my life” and prove his innocence in the case brought against him by the special counsel, Robert Mueller, insisting the text message exchanges that were cited in his indictment were being misrepresented.

Here’s a look at the on-again, off-again love-hate relationship between Stone and comic-turned-gadfly/activist Randy Credico.

As income tax filing season opens today, a sweeping tax code overhaul and the lingering effects of a government shutdown could squeeze taxpayers’ refund checks and delay them, too.

For the hundreds of thousands of people who work for private companies that support government, the future will be decided in part by how quickly federal agencies get running after the record 35-day shutdown, the fine print of contracts and the kindness of strangers.

Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, believed that the “Russia thing” would end as a side effect from the firing of the national security adviser, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, in the early days of the administration, according to an account in a new memoir by former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren is trying to distinguish herself from the rapidly expanding field of 2020 Democratic contenders by, as she puts it, “nerding out” – focusing on the sort of policy minutiae that candidates typically avoid.

NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio remains an afterthought when it comes to the crowd of would-be Democratic presidential contenders – but not from lack of trying to raise his national profile.

Hillary Clinton hasn’t ruled out another run for the White House in 2020, though there’s no “campaign-in-waiting” or official plan in the works.

A survey taken as the country was in the throes of the longest partial government shutdown in US history found that a majority of Americans believe the nation is on the “wrong track.”

California Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris officially launched her bid for the presidency in 2020, kicking off her campaign with a speech touting unity and equality.

Howard Schultz, the former chief executive of Starbucks and a self-described “lifelong Democrat,” said he’s preparing to run for president as an independent and had already begun the groundwork required to be on the ballot in all 50 states.

Queens Democratic Rep. Hakeem Jeffries said he doesn’t regret calling Trump the “grand wizard” of the White House and called on the commander-in-chief to own up to his decades of “colorful” behavior.

Some Catholic leaders in the country are calling for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to be excommunicated after he signed and publicly celebrated a new law last week expanding and strengthening abortion rights in New York. But Timothy Cardinal Dolan, the Archbishop of New York, is not likely to take that extreme step.

Before a quiet crowd of about 50 people at the New York State Conservative Party’s 52nd annual conference yesterday, Kathleen Gallagher made it clear: the pro-life movement in New York has suffered a serious defeat.

With New York having strengthened and expanded abortion rights and set to pass the Child Victims Act over Church objections, the state Catholic Conference, headed by Dolan, is now prioritizing blocking a bill to legalize physician assisted suicide.

With the Child Victims Act set for long-awaited state legislative passage today, former Queens Assemblywoman Margaret Markey, the woman who for years stood alone taking on the Church — and even fellow lawmakers – will be on hand to watch it happen.

The reopening of the federal government signals the start of three weeks of intense negotiations over border security in an ideologically divided Congress that threaten to leave Republican and Democratic leaders right where they began: at risk of a government shutdown.

The toll exacted on government operations and federal employees by the record 35-day stalemate — not to mention the political costs to those in the White House and on Capitol Hill — was so punishing that it is giving momentum to a longstanding call to prohibit the government disruptions that have become a regular facet of Washington hardball.

A day after a stinging defeat at the hands of Democrats and the indictment of a longtime pal, Roger Stone, Trump on Saturday aired his frustrations in a volley of pointed social media posts.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did not mince words as she weighed in on the arrest of Stone, saying that his indictment “makes clear that there was a deliberate, coordinated attempt by top Trump campaign officials to influence the 2016 election.”

Stone said he would consider cooperating with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, but insisted the Russia probe will turn up no collusion on behalf of the president.

Trump’s defeat in his border-wall standoff with Congress has clouded his already perilous path to a second term in 2020, undercutting his cherished image as a forceful leader and deft negotiator, and emboldening alike his Democratic challengers and Republican dissenters who hope to block his re-election.

Federal workers on Long Island on Saturday awaited recall notices and details about when they will be paid, one day after the nation’s longest government shutdown ended. Some said they also expected to confront all the work that went undone in the last 35 days.

During the 2016 presidential campaign and transition, Trump and at least 17 campaign officials and advisers had contacts with Russian nationals and WikiLeaks, or their intermediaries, a New York Times analysis has found.

Queens Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez declined to attend the Sundance Film Festival premiere of a documentary she’s starring in because of the government shutdown.

Longtime employees of the Trump National Golf Club in Westchester were reportedly fired en masse last week — for being in the US illegally.

New York has enacted a measure adding gender identity and gender expression to the state’s anti-discrimination law, making it illegal to deny people a job, housing, education or public accommodations because they are transgender.

Disturbing threats against Planned Parenthood and pro-choice activists were posted to Bronx state senator Gustavo River’s Facebook page this week. The NYPD’s Intelligence Division was notified and is investigating.

Just days before the Child Victims Act, the bill making it easier for child sex abuse victims to seek justice as adults, is to pass, the state Catholic Conference, headed by Dolan, has officially withdrawn its long-standing opposition to the measure.

Mark Taylor, Bridie Farrell and other sexual abuse survivors who have long advocated for the Child Victims Act will be in Albany tomorrow to witness its passage by the Legislature.

Six years after New York passed the controversial SAFE Act, a new round of gun control bills are set to pass the state Legislature on Tuesday, as Democrats are expected to pass at least eight bills that would ban bump stocks and bar school districts from letting teachers be armed.

Less than four months ago, the staid Metropolitan Republican Club in Manhattan became an unlikely battleground between anti-fascism activists and a far-right group known as the Proud Boys. Now the brawl has moved inside the century-old club, pitting far-right conservatives against New York moderates.

The state Joint Commission on Public Ethics filed an appeal to a December court ruling that mandated a vote by the ethics panel on whether to investigate the activities of Joe Percoco, a former top aide to Cuomo.

Proposals in Cuomo’s 2020 budget to make the state Legislature and government agencies more transparent could face opposition from lawmakers and labor unions, while good government advocates are hoping for even greater access to public information.

The heads of New York’s public university systems are scheduled to testify at a state budget hearing in Albany tomorrow.

After a trio of bus thefts, NYC’s newest buses are equipped with push-start ignitions, which let anyone who manages to break into a bus easily start its engine.

The New York City Department of Education again had far more sexual harassment complaints than any other department between July 2017 and June 2018, with 186 out of 472 total harassment complaints coming from the department.

Election Day chaos caused by voting machine breakdowns was heightened by polling place workers having to wait up to 12 hours for repairs, newly released NYC Board of Elections data revealed.

The FDNY’s diversity monitor has billed NYC a stunning $23 million in fees and expenses in his seven years — and the charges have only gotten steeper.

Police arrested nine environmental activists who staged a “die in” at the Rockefeller Center ice rink on Saturday — including a 30-year-old protester who scaled the center’s iconic gold Prometheus statue to hang a banner from it, officials said.

Former Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Eileen Koretz — who now works as a judicial hearing officer in courtrooms for $400 per day – injected herself into a beef over a spycam between her prosecutor daughter and her daughter’s nanny, and as a result, has been suspended from her court job.

Despite growing safety data on e-scooters — powered two-wheelers that are zipping along NYC streets nationwide — the industry’s two biggest scooter-rental players, Lime Bike and Bird, spent $230,000 last year trying to talk city pols into making them street-legal in New York.

A Columbia Law professor who’s advised three presidents and was the nephew of another is being sued in federal court by his allegedly badly-underpaid housekeeper.

A New York City Housing Authority employee redecorated her kitchen with cabinets, a refrigerator and a sink stolen from a public housing complex in East Harlem, a less lurid example of NYCHA’s years of mismanagement.

The head of the alleged sex cult Nxivm, Keith Raniere, has just made his third pitch to be sprung from the Metropolitan Detention Center, where he’s been held since his April 2018 arraignment, given that his trial date has been repeatedly pushed back by prosecutorial delays.

The NYPD sergeant who was slugged by an enraged NFL linebacker in Queens on Saturday was already sidelined for an injury when the gridironer took a cheap shot at him, police sources said.

Off-Track Betting agencies in Nassau and Suffolk counties and across New York could shed their horse racing operations – their main function for nearly 50 years, but also a source of deficits in recent years – under proposals unveiled by Cuomo last week.

New York State is making another $9 million in grant funding available for communities to continue to address long vacant and abandoned properties, a problem otherwise known as zombie homes.

Political consultant Mike Dawidziak said Suffolk’s fiscal woes give Republicans “a chance to raise a major issue” against Democratic County Executive Steve Bellone this fall. But it will be an uphill battle to raise the money and make their case with this year’s accelerated election cycle.

The headmaster of the tony Long Island private school Lawrence Woodmere Academy has stepped down — just after The NY Post ran a former student’s explosive first-person account of teacher sex-harassment and administration stonewalling.

Nassau County, facing annual budget deficits in the tens of millions of dollars, has earmarked nearly $15 million since 2013 for projects for legislators’ districts, including statues, a tractor to maintain museum grounds, Wi-Fi and weight room equipment in schools and a roller hockey rink.

As Nassau continues to earmark small amounts of funding for projects in individual county legislators’ districts, New York State, Suffolk County and Congress all have taken steps to try to rein in such spending.

The Buffalo Diocese is offering several dozen sexual abuse victims awards ranging from $10,000 to $600,000, but others have been deemed indelible because their claims were not already known to church officials, and they are not happy about it.

The Buffalo News tried to answer some burning questions about pot legalization.

The Buffalo News’ Jerry Zremski takes a look at the current crop of nine Democratic 2020 contenders and ranks them in order of their likelihood of landing the party nod – at this moment.

Howard Schultz, the former Starbucks CEO, says in a 60 Minutes interview that he is thinking very seriously about an independent presidential run in 2020, but stopped short of a full announcement.

Erie County Sheriff’s Deputy Kenneth P. Achtyl has hired a defense lawyer to deal with the federal and state prosecutors deciding whether to charge him for the bloody arrest of a Buffalo Bills fan who swore at him outside New Era Field.

Angela Marinucci, a former corporate immigration lawyer who waged an aggressive campaign last year against Erie County Clerk Michael “Mickey” Kearns, has been hired by the Poloncarz administration for an administrative job.

Albany’s historic Palace Theatre is looking toward launching, for the second time, ambitious plan to renovate.

Troy Mayor Patrick Madden called on Councilman Mark McGrath to resign after he was heard using racist language in a three-year-old voicemail obtained by the Times Union.

Buffalo Bert, the heart and soul of Groundhog Day Buffalo, awoke from hibernation Saturday in front of hundreds of hearty fans who gave the young woodchuck a warm welcome — even though it predicted six more weeks of winter. (Yes, they do Groundhog Day early in Buffalo).

President Trump announced a deal with congressional leaders to temporarily reopen the government while talks continue on his demand for border wall money, a move expected to bring an end to the longest shutdown in U.S. history.

Trump took no questions after announcing the deal to end the partial government shutdown – including those asked about the arrest earlier in the day of his longtime ally Roger Stone.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said the indictment of Stone had “nothing to do” with the president. But when pressed by CNN’s John Berman, Sanders refused to say whether Trump directed a senior campaign official to contact Stone about WikiLeaks’ plans to release potentially damaging information about Hillary Clinton.

Federal agents arrested Stone, a self-professed GOP “dirty trickster” and longtime adviser to Trump, on charges that he had lied to investigators examining Russian interference in the 2016 election.

The special counsel disclosed evidence that a top campaign official dispatched Stone to get information from WikiLeaks about the thousands of hacked Democratic emails.

Barry Pollack, a lawyer for WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange, called Stone’s arrest “intimidation,” and says the special counsel’s office has never spoken with Assange.

Stone appeared at court in shackles later in the morning, did not enter a plea and was released on a $250,000 bond.

Stone vowed to fight the seven charges filed against him, and said he’ll plead not guilty. “I am falsely accused of making false statements,” he said, after making his first appearance before a federal judge in Florida in the case.

At least four major airports suffered flight delays today because of an increase in air traffic control employees calling in sick as the government shutdown continued.

The shutdown was also creating a strain on the Internal Revenue Service. At least 14,000 unpaid workers in the IRS division that includes tax processing and call centers did not show up for work this week despite orders to do so, according to two House aides.

Republican National Committee members voted to throw the party’s “undivided support” behind Trump ahead of his 2020 reelection bid as speculation continues to mount about potential primary challengers.

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg savaged Trump, calling him a “pretend CEO” who’s “totally incompetent,” but said he still hasn’t decided whether to run for president himself.

Catholics are urging church leaders to publicly excommunicate New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo after he signed a radical pro-abortion bill into law this week.

Sexual harassment complaints filed by New York City workers spiked by 10 percent in the last fiscal year, 472 in total and only 36 substantiated, with de Blasio trying to tie the spike to the administration’s efforts to encourage more people to report.

Hundreds of people with marijuana convictions dating back at least 20 years will have their criminal records erased under a plan by the Onondaga County district attorney, starting before the expected legalization of marijuana.

New York City Councilman Brad Lander has declared his intention to run for city Comptroller in the 2021 election, joining Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal as the only declared candidates in the race.

The National Press Club is offering free drinks and tacos to the hundreds of journalists in Washington, D.C., who were recently laid off.

At 10 a.m., plaintiffs represented by Make the Road New York, the National Immigration Law Center, and the Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic at Yale Law School appear before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit to defend a district court order preventing the Trump administration from terminating DACA, Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse, Courtroom 1703, 40 Foley Sq., Manhattan.

Also at 10 a.m., NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio will appear live on WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show, and will take questions from listeners. (He’s calling in from D.C., where he’s attending the National Conference of Mayors event. He and his wife, McCray, will return to New York City later today).

At 10:30 a.m., Assemblyman Marcos Crespo speaks at a preview tour, press conference and ribbon-cutting at the first stop of the new Roadmap to Health educational and mobile health screening program, James Monroe Senior Center, 1776 Story Ave., the Bronx.

Also at 10:30 a.m., Queens Borough President Melinda Katz delivers her annual State of the Borough address, LaGuardia Community College, Mainstage Theater, 31-10 Thomson Ave., Queens.

At 11 a.m., “The Capitol Pressroom” features Zach Williams, staff reporter at City & State and state Sen. James Skoufis, WCNY.

At 11:30 a.m., NYC Council members Margaret Chin and Chaim Deutsch host a community unity rally in response to a fatal attack at the Seaport Buffet last week, Seaport Buffet, 2027 Emmons Ave., Brooklyn.

At 5:30 p.m., state Sen. Rachel May is inviting community members to a roundtable listening session on the after-school programs being offered in the district, Southwest Community Center, 401 South Ave., Syracuse.

At 6 p.m., Hassell-Thompson, special advisor for Policy and Community Affairs, NYS Homes and Community Services, gives a State of the State/budget presentation, New Settlement Community Center, 1501 Jerome Ave., the Bronx.

President Donald Trump said he is open to a measure that would reopen the federal government for three weeks in exchange for a “down payment” on his proposed border wall, representing a potential breakthrough in the weeks-long stalemate.

The White House is preparing a draft proclamation for Trump to declare a national emergency along the southern border and has identified more than $7 billion in potential funds for his signature border wall should he go that route, according to internal documents reviewed by CNN.

After failing to pass either a GOP-sponsored bill with $5.7 billion for the wall or a competing Democratic measure with no wall funding, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer huddled with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on a deal that would reopen the government for three weeks while they continued to negotiate border security.

With the shutdown reaching a grim milestone today as 800,000 federal workers miss a second consecutive paycheck, pressure is mounting in both parties to find a solution.

Wilbur Ross, the commerce secretary, who pads around Washington in $600 embroidered slippers and is known for frequenting high-end restaurants, expressed confusion about why furloughed federal workers were visiting food banks.

Ross suggested workers going without a paycheck for the second time this month simply borrow some money to tide them over, but the terms available to them vary greatly, and the idea of taking on additional debt through no fault of their own just doesn’t sit well with some people.

For a president who prides himself on being a master negotiator, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is a different kind of opponent – equal in power to him – and one who so far has flummoxed him.

The Trump administration today will start forcing some asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their cases wind through U.S. courts, an official said, launching what could become one of the more significant changes to the immigration system in years.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren is proposing a so-called ultra-millionaire tax as she vies for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.

Michael Cohen will comply with a subpoena to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee, his attorney said — one day after the beleaguered barrister canceled an appearance before a House panel out of fear for his safety, citing threats from Trump and Rudy Giuliani.

A growing number of colleges and universities are postponing tuition payments, waiving late fees and providing emergency grants to students whose finances have been tied up by the longest government shutdown in history.

CNN chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta is writing a book for HarperCollins about his experience reporting on the Trump administration. It’s called “The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America,” and will hit shelves June 11.

Former Democratic Vice President Joe Biden acknowledged that “one of my problems, if I ever run for president, is that I like Republicans.”

NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio railed against the government shutdown at a meeting with mayors in Washington, testing lines before a national audience to position himself as a national progressive spokesman.

Continuing their rapid pace, state legislators say they will approve next week a far-ranging package of gun-control measures and a bill to allow victims of long-ago child sex abuse to sue their abusers.

After 15 years of fighting, child sex abuse victims are going to finally get their chance at justice. The new Democrat-controlled state Legislature on Monday is set to take up and pass the long-awaited Child Victims Act that had been blocked for years by Republicans in the state Senate.

The Catholic Church is signaling it will drop its long-held opposition to the Child Victims Act if public schools are specifically included with religious and private schools in one major provision of the legislation.

Before closing down next week’s session on Tuesday, state lawmakers are expected to pass a number of gun control measures over lobbying by Second Amendment groups like the National Rifle Association.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie warned that congestion pricing — the centerpiece of Cuomo’s plan to fund the MTA — is going to be the toughest issue to settle in this year’s state budget.

The MTA put off to the end of February a vote on fare and toll increases amid Cuomo’s frustration with the agency’s bureaucracy, and board members’ wishes to consider more ideas for reforming its operations.

The monthlong government shutdown will continue past its 34th day after two pieces of competing legislation to reopen the federal government failed to clear the U.S. Senate.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she’s ready to meet with President Donald Trump any time to discuss an end to the partial government shutdown as lawmakers prepared to vote on various bills to end the standoff.

Pelosi said she was happy Trump agreed to postpone his State of the Union address until after the government reopened — saying the speech is “so unimportant in the lives of the American people” compared to other priorities.

Michael Cohen’s legal adviser called for Trump to be censured by Congress for “witness tampering” one day after Trump’s ex-lawyer postponed his congressional testimony due to “threats” against his family by the president.

Cohen’s lawyer, Lanny Davis, says Rudy Giuliani should be indicted for “witness tampering” following his comments on national television earlier this week.

BuzzFeed, often hailed as the future of publishing and a leading producer of digital content, plans to lay off 15 percent of its work force, or around 200 employees, according to a memo sent to the staff last night.

Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, who is weighing a run for president in 2020, called for national unity amid political divisiveness in a speech at the U.S Conference of Mayors.

Biden defended his decision to praise an embattled Republican lawmaker during a paid speech in Michigan last fall, saying it reflected his philosophy of how to “get things done.”

Southwest Airlines’ long-awaited flights to Hawaii are likely going to be delayed for months due to the government shutdown.

Cuomo said his executive budget includes a new proposal to crack down on wage theft, which would increase criminal penalties for employers who knowingly or intentionally commit wage theft violations to more closely align with other forms of theft.

Twenty-six school districts have been designated as fiscally stressed under a monitoring system established by state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli.

It was known as “a de Blasio special.” A politically connected businesswoman got gun permit applications upgraded and rubber-stamped by the NYPD’s corrupt license division in early 2014, multiple sources told the Daily News.

New York City has agreed to pay $3.3 million to settle a lawsuit on behalf of the estate of Kalief Browder, the young Bronx man whose detention on Rikers Island became a symbol of the breakdown in criminal justice in the Big Apple.

Former President Bill Clinton is writing a new book about his post-presidential life, which has spanned about two decades.

Democratic Assemblyman Kenneth Zebrowski has formed a campaign committee to raise money for a possible run for Rockland County district attorney, according to state Board of Elections records.

Erie County legislators are poised to create legislation raising the age of those who can buy e-cigarette products from 18 to 21. Suburban school principals came before the Legislature today to urge lawmakers to take action against the “epidemic” of e-cigarettes.

The MTA board is delaying its vote on fare and toll increases until February. A vote was scheduled to take place today, but the governor opposes any hikes and one of his appointees moved for the delay.

Suffolk County is gearing up to boot and tow as many as 43,000 scofflaw vehicles with three or more unresolved red light camera violations, and another 40,000 with county judgments for moving or parking violations.